Saint Aldegonde of Maubeuge

God showed early on that He was personally undertaking the direction of this holy girl, sending the apostle Saint Pet er expressly to instr l'apôtre saint Pierre Apostle and first pope, mentioned as the father of Petronilla. uct her on what she should do for the proper conduct of her life; she was also often consoled by the visit of Angels, and even by that of the King of Angels, who, from that moment, chose her as His dear spouse.

Her parents, who had other views for her, strove by all sorts of means to engage her in the world; and it happened quite opportunely for their design that she was asked in marriage for the son of an English prince named Eudon. Aldegonde was extremely embarrassed, be cause Eudon Son of an English prince, rejected suitor of Aldegonde. she feared offending those whom she honored as representing the person of God on earth. However, taking courage, she generously made it understood to her mother that she did not wish to have any other spouse than the only Son of God. This answer did not please her parents. Her father therefore used his authority and, without regard for his daughter's inclinations, promised her to the young English prince, and at the same time commanded the young princess to prepare to receive him. The poor girl, greatly surprised, begged her mother to give her at least a few days to resolve herself, since, in this matter, the rest of her whole life and the salvation of her soul were at stake. This was granted to her, albeit reluctantly, because her parents saw well that all these delays tended in the end only to a complete rupture. The term expired, Aldegonde, no longer knowing what to do to delay, had recourse to her heavenly Spouse, who, strengthening her courage with a holy resolution (as He once filled virgin martyrs with constancy in the midst of torments), inspired her to take flight. She therefore slipped away, under the cover of night, from the hands of her governess; and, making her way through the forests, she took the least frequented paths, until she arrived on the banks of the Sambre river. As she found no boat to cross it, and feared being pu rsued, she again rivière de Sambre River miraculously crossed by the saint. implored the help of heaven and the hand of the Almighty, so that He might take her under His protection and not suffer the current of this river to stop for a moment the success of her generous enterprise. Her prayer was answered, and God sent two heavenly spirits who, visibly lifting this entirely angelic princess, carried her lightly to the other bank of this river, without her even wetting her feet; then the Angels disappeared immediately, and Aldegonde was flooded with consolation at the sight of these wonders of her God. Then she withdrew into a forest, where she built a small chapel, resolved not to leave this place until her parents promised her no longer to speak to her of marriage. Lord Walbert and Princess Berthille, recognizing by this the will of God for their daughter, and certain that they would gain nothing over her spirit, finally consented to her keeping her virginity.

But some time later, both having passed away, our Saint found herself more pressured than ever by her relatives and friends to marry the young prince of England, whose alliance they deemed very advantageous. What then will the innocent Aldegonde do, in the hands of so many people who wish to rob her of her freedom? How will she deliver herself from the pursuits of Eudon, who, to win her and oblige her to reciprocate the affection he shows her, employs all the skills of art and nature? She fled a second time, and remained hidden for a few days in a wood, until she learned that Saint Amand, Bishop of Maastricht, and S aint Aubert saint Amand Spiritual advisor to Gertrude. , Bishop of Cambrai, were a t that time saint Aubert Bishop of Cambrai and Arras who called Kilian to mission. at the monastery of Hautmont, in Hainaut, where the Blessed Vincent, husband of Saint Waltrude, her elder sister, had become a monk; she resolved to go and find them there, in order to consult them on the present matter. She arrived there barefoot, like a penitent, out of respect for their sacred character; and, after informing them of the state of her vocation, the pursuits of her parents, and the suit of the prince who was asking for her hand in marriage, she begged them to assist her, so that she would not be forced to give herself to a mortal man, after having committed herself by promise to Jesus Christ. These holy prelates approved of Aldegonde's design, and, recognizing well that all this was a stroke of the hand of the Most High, they judged it appropriate to give her, in that very place, the sacred veil of virginity. As they were on the point of performing this holy ceremony, a great wonder occurred. All the garments necessary for the clothing being arranged on the altar of Saint Vaast, a dove appeared visibly in the air, and, fluttering over this altar, took with its beak the veil that had been prepared; and, having raised it slightly, it let it fall directly onto the head of this holy maiden. Everyone remained enraptured by such an extraordinary sign by which God showed evidently that He approved of the offering and the sacrifice that the young princess was making of her person; as for her, she remained extremely satisfied to see herself arrived with such ease at the height of her desires.

After this holy action, Aldegonde withdrew, on the advice of the same holy Prelates, to the solitary place where she had hidden herself and which sh e called Maubeuge Monastery founded by Saint Aldegonde. Maubeuge; and, using the great wealth that had fallen to her upon the death of her parents, she had three churches built there, in allusion to the number of persons of the most holy Trinity: the first was dedicated to the honor of the Queen of Angels, the second to the honor of Saint Quentin the martyr, and the third to the honor of the princes of the Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Then, this virtuous princess, to honor the memory of her father and mother, had the place of their burial at Cousolre enriched w ith very Coursolre Burial place and pilgrimage site of the saintly spouses. beautiful buildings, and made a foundation there for the maintenance of twelve nuns in perpetuity. When she had retired to her desert of Maubeuge, her sister Vautrude went to visit her there and left her two daughters, Aldetrude and Maldebette, so that she might raise them in the way of perfection; she succeeded so happily that her nieces, having imitated her, succeeded her in her abbey, where they attracted a great number of girls after them to live religiously, and both eventually became very great Saints. But, to return to Aldegonde, the plan of her buildings being completed, she had the churches consecrated and ensured a sufficient income for the subsistence of the canons and the canonesses she had founded; this is why she wished to pass the necessary acts, in the presence of several great personages, under the authority of Saint Aubert, Bishop of Cambrai, who even used his influence to have these establishments approved by the Holy See. Following this, she thought only of the guidance of her dear canonesses. She began by giving very rare examples of all kinds of virtues, and these examples were confirmed by several miraculous actions, which it is easy to see in her life, carefully written by the Fathers Etienne Binet and André Triquet, both of the Society of Jesus, and previously by Father Basile de Vatonne, a Capuchin.

However, as there is no place so sacred, nor company so holy where detraction does not find entry, nor virtue so eminent that it is not subject to the censure of slanderous tongues, some libertines had the malice to slander this holy virgin, and even strove to make her feel the effects of their wicked will. But all this was like beating against a rock that the waves and the foam of the sea are not capable of shaking; for the holy abbess, casting her eyes upon her celestial Spouse Jesus Christ, considered herself all the more happy as she saw herself despised by men; in this conduct, Our Lord Himself confirmed her, letting her know that contempt, regarded with equanimity, was the great path by which all the Saints, after the Saint of Saints, had walked.

Aldegonde having spent her life in a most eminent holiness, God, by a favor that He ordinarily grants only to His beloved, made known to her the time of her death. As she was in prayer in the church, at the hour of the passing of Saint Amand, she perceived, in a rapture of spirit, a venerable old man, clothed in pontifical vestments and surrounded by glory, who was ascending to heaven, followed by a very great number of blessed spirits. The Saint attentively considered the pomp of this triumph; and desiring to know what it was, she heard the voice of an angel who said to her: "It is Bishop Amand, whose virtues and merit you cherished during his life." Aldegonde having declared this vision to the Blessed Guislin, who had come to visit her, he told her that it was an ev B. Guislin Abbot of Celle-lès-Mons and advisor to Saint Waltrude. ident omen of her approaching death. She was not at all surprised; but, submitting to the good pleasure of God, she thanked the Saint for announcing to her such agreeable news.

Another vision, although very different, consoled her no less; God let her see the enemy of the human race, in a terrifying figure, and who appeared extremely sad; the Saint having asked him the reason, he replied: "That his most sensible displeasure came from the fact that he saw men ascending to heaven every day, from where he was banished." These words of the demon, who, forced by the truth, confessed the subject of his rage, inflamed all the more Aldegonde's desire to leave this world perfectly purified, so that at the hour of death she would have nothing that could delay her from enjoying the presence of her beloved. She asked it insistently of Our Lord, and finally obtained it from His mercy; for, to finish purifying her virtue, He permitted a cancer to form on her right breast; which she bore with much patience and with g cancer Disease from which the saint suffered and for which she is invoked. reat testimonies of joy, continually praising and blessing God that it pleased Him to visit her with punishments, which she confessed were due to her offenses and her lack of devotion.

The spirit of darkness, unable to suffer such holiness, did everything possible to trouble her and to make her fall into some impatience; but, far from succeeding, he only cast nets before the eyes of her who had the wings of a dove to save herself, according to the expression of Scripture, in the holes of the rock and in the wounds of the crucifix, where was her asylum; she turned toward this monster, who boasted of having excited in her a very ardent thirst, in a bout of fever, and threatened her with inciting even greater evils; and, without wanting any other remedy than that of prayer, she said to him with an accent full of fire: "The Lord is my helper, I do not fear your threats"; which filled the enemy with confusion, and forced him to withdraw with shame.

It was in truth a storm, but one that was soon followed by a very great calm, because the Saint saw herself at the same time invited by Our Lord to ask for perseverance in His love; and a priest, who appeared in the same vision, signaled to her that Jesus Christ granted her request. Finally, for a third consolation, it seemed to her that she saw the apostle Saint Peter, who brought her a bread of admirable whiteness, which she received very joyfully from his hand.

A sick child, beyond hope of recovery, was brought to her; she had him carried to the corner of the altar, where, at that very hour, he regained his health; and, as everyone admired this wonder, the Saint assured them that it was the place where she had seen Our Lord. A madman was also brought to her, who was in no less danger of his life; and he was healed in body and mind as soon as the sick saint had made the sign of the cross over him. We pass over in silence several other wonders, visions, and apparitions, whether they were made to her herself or to others out of regard for her: such was, in particular, that of a globe of fire which appeared to descend from heaven upon her head; and that of Our Lord with a troop of celestial spirits whom a holy personage saw around the sick woman; we leave, I say, all these wonders, in order to come to the last of all, which began three days before her death and did not cease until the final moment of her life: it was an admirable splendor and brightness which, appearing in the place where the Saint was, shone upon the bed where she lay. All those who were present, and particularly Saint Vautrude, who had left her home to see her sick sister, remained in astonishment; soon this light was seen to ascend back toward heaven at the moment when the beautiful soul of Aldegonde departed from her body in such a peaceful manner that one could hardly notice it: this was around the year 689, although there are several opinions on this matter, based on the time of the death of Saint Amand, of whom we shall speak in his own life, on February 6.

An ancient painting depicts her with the veil of a virgin, a purple cloak strewn with flowers, a red dress, and a white tunic; which indicates a canoness.

The marvelous deeds that fill the life of Saint Aldegonde suggest the other ways in which she has been represented, without our needing to enumerate them again.

She is invoked against cancer cancer Disease from which the saint suffered and for which she is invoked. .